Tag: Thailand

Leaders of the largest Buddhist temple in the world want it “to be like Mecca is in Islam, a global center,” says Rachelle Scott, an expert on the group and assistant director of religious studies at the University of Tennessee. “Critics question the intentions of the temple. They think that the primary intention is to make money.” More →

Economic prosperity and modernity are beginning to have an impact on religious life in Thailand, a country that is 95 percent Buddhist but that in the last 30 years has seen the number of Buddhist monks decrease by about half. More →

This award-winning economist is credited with bringing down Thailand’s HIV infection rate, lowering its high birth rate, reducing poverty rates, and championing sustainable development ideas that work in rural settings. More →

Thailand's Prabhat Namphu Buddhist monastery is an unlikely combination of two things: AIDS hospice and tourist attraction. Amid a display of cadavers, visitors -- including many school kids -- observe what HIV does to the human body.